Catanzarite would then haul in a 19-yard TD pass form Lastella for a 14-0 lead which extended to 21-7 in the third quarter on Miller’s 30-yard TD run.    

Following their impressive season-opening triumph the Panthers have an early bye week before returning for their home opener, 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 10, vs. local rival Glen Ridge (1-0).      

“We have to continue to take it one game at a time,” said Gogerty. “Our focus was solely on Gloucester and now in the coming days we move it to Glen Ridge.

“We have a difficult road ahead with a tough schedule that the SFC lines us up against and our focus will be to take it one game at a time and continue to get better and better as the season progresses.

“We want our young guys to continue to develop and hope they can play one grade above where they are by the middle to end of the season.”

AROUND ESSEX IN WEEK ZERO AND LOOKING AHEAD: Shabazz, which is ranked 14th in the state according to nj.com, had a strong 32-19 win over then No. 8 ranked Atlantic City, also in the Battle at the Beach, will look to once again ride the efforts of veteran QB Kariem Costan and RB Faheen Ausbon (19 carries for 124 yards) when it now faces another state ranked squad, No. 13 Passaic Tech 6 p.m. this Friday night in Wayne, which should be one of the state’s featured game of the week. Passaic Tech, which is the favorite in N1G5, defeated a strong Group 3 program, Burlington Township, 49-36, in the Battle in the Boro at Rowan University…West Essex, which like Cedar Grove has had to replace several starters from last year, impressed in its season opener at Montville roaring to 27-14 win behind the strong play of new starting QB Gaetano Iavarone, who has progressed very well in the early going under new Knights QB coach Marty Horn, as the senior accounted for 4 TDs in the game against a much more experienced Mustangs team. Wessex has another tough game in Morris County this Saturday at 1-0 Chatham…In one of the better games of Week Zero, East Orange Campus came up just short in its comeback effort against a strong Piscataway squad at Robeson Stadium on Saturday, falling by a narrow 26-20 score…Seton Hall Prep had an out-of-state road trip to greater Baltimore where it dropped a 28-21 decision to Mount St. Joseph. The Maryland-based team mounted a late comeback to edge the Pirates, who must regroup quickly as they travel to take on No. 7 ranked DePaul (1-0) 6 p.m. this Friday night in Wayne.

SC’s Essex Top 10:
1- Shabazz (1-0)- Bulldogs overcame penalties in win over Atlantic City
2- West Orange (0-1) - Mountaineers relinquished 12-0 lead in 13-12 loss to Ramapo
3- Seton Hall Prep (0-1)- Pirates have tall task at DePaul Friday nightl
4- Cedar Grove (1-0)- Panthers have a well-deserved week off after solid opener
5- West Essex (1-0)- Knights continue to prosper with second-year coach Dan Fulton
6- East Orange Campus (0-1)- Jaguars remain a dangerous team to watch in N1G5
7- Irvington (1-0)- Blue Knights face their own challenge on the roof in Union City
8- Caldwell (0-0)- Promising Chiefs look to ride high-powered passing attack
9- Bloomfield (1-0)- Bengals had a very nice season-opening road win vs. Central
10- Nutley (0-1)- Maroon Raiders gave strong effort in close loss at Pascack Valley

This Week’s Games Involving Essex Teams. Pick To Win In Boldface:
Thursday, Sept. 3:
West Side at Snyder, 6
Glen Ridge at Hoboken, 6:30

Friday, Sept. 4:
Shabazz at Passaic Tech, 6
Seton Hall Prep at DePaul, 6
East Orange Campus at Bloomfield, 6
Belleville at Pascack Hills, 7
Montclair at Barringer (Schools Stadium), 7
Livingston at West Orange, 7
Nutley at Orange (Bell Stadium), 7
Irvington at Union City, 7
Caldwell at Verona, 7
Central at Weequahic, 7

Saturday, Sept. 5:
West Essex at Chatham, 1
Record on Picks last week: 8-6       

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